What You Need to Know About Import Control System 2 (ICS2) – Release 3
On 1 March 2023, the European Union (EU) launched Release 2 of its Import Control System 2 (ICS2) for goods transported by air to destinations in the EU-27, Northern Ireland, Norway and Switzerland. If you ship goods within the listed countries, you are probably already familiar with ICS2. To help ensure that your cargo complies with the latest security measures, we would like to introduce the following information about the latest Release 3 of ICS2, which came into force on 3 June 2024.
What is ICS2 (Import Control System 2)?
The Import Control System is an information system for registering and controlling goods, created by the European Commission (EC), in which Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) are submitted before loading and before arrival for all goods entering the customs territory of the EU. ICS2 is the second version of the Import Control System and includes new functions, improved security and more efficient data processing. The main purpose of ICS2, unlike ICS1, is to ensure the timely collection of higher-quality supply chain data in order to improve protection of the EU in the context of international trade.
What does ICS stand for?
ICS2 is a large-scale EU information system covering:
- the submission of safety and security declarations, and more specifically Entry Summary Declarations (ENS), to customs;
- security and safety risk analysis by customs authorities;
- the arrival of means of transport;
- presentation of goods to customs authorities and customs controls where necessary.
ICS2 supports the transmission of advance cargo information for safety and security risk analysis for the following modes of transport: sea, air, road, rail and inland waterways, including express and postal services.
What challenges does ICS2 address?
- Protecting EU citizens and the internal market from threats
- More effective identification of high-risk shipments
- Intervention at the most appropriate point in the supply chain
- Better support for crisis-response scenarios
- Facilitating cross-border customs clearance for legitimate trade
- Simplifying data exchange between economic operators (EOs) and EU customs authorities
ICS2 overview
Entry Summary Declarations must be submitted in ICS2. The declarant then receives an MRN number. A risk analysis is performed on the transmitted data included in the declaration, which may lead to an inspection upon arrival. All goods entering ICS2 countries must be covered by an ENS. The declarant must also comply with the regulatory ENS submission deadlines, which vary depending on the mode of transport.
Which countries are included in ICS2?
These are the countries participating in the ICS2 project and applying EU customs legislation in the context of entry formalities and ICS2, including the EU Member States, Switzerland, Norway and Northern Ireland as part of the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol in the context of Brexit.
Which release?
The obligation to submit safety and security declarations is not the same for all economic operators. Depending on the type of services provided by an EO in the international movement of goods, three implementation dates were introduced:
- 15 March 2021 – Express carriers and designated postal operators
- 1 March 2023 – All goods transported by air as postal, express and general air cargo
- Initial date: 1 March 2024, subsequently amended – Sea, road and rail carriers
What changes for our customers?
Every customer importing goods into the EU from a third country must provide all information required for ICS2 in their shipping instructions so that we and our selected carriers can electronically submit a complete Entry Summary Declaration under ICS2. Each customer must provide the following information:
- Full name and address of the consignee, including PO box number, postal code and sub-area code
- Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number of the consignee
- Full and accurate commercial description of the goods
- Six-digit Harmonised System code
Important dates to remember
Economic operators filing ENS declarations must request a “deployment window” from the customs administration of the EU Member State in which they are registered if they are not ready to begin operating on the launch date.
At Unimasters, we closely monitor every update to ensure that our services fully comply with the new requirements. Compliance with this regulation is extremely important to us, and we are currently updating our systems to make sure we are ready to begin submitting data to ICS2.
We will continue to provide up-to-date information related to the expanded EU customs filing requirements. If you have comments or questions on this topic, you can contact our teams at: